Which BE Team do you root for other than yours?

[TAMU Eagle]

1. Villanova - Standard bearer for new conference. Liked them even before that. Jay Wright is a classy fellow.

2. Creighton - Love the passion of their fans. Fun team to watch. Jesuit connection.

3. Providence - Love me some Cooley. Strange things always seem to happen when we play (see Bradley center bat). Doesn't hurt that we've dominated them since joining the BEast.

4. Georgetown - Always reminds me of the "good old days" of basketball.

5. Xavier - Always thought they were the gold standard of mid major powerhouses. Newcomer who came most BEast ready. Didn't like Holloway as a player though.

6. Saint Johns - I honestly don't have a strong feeling about them either way.

7. Butler - I was in Maui for Rotnei Clarke's circus shot buzzer beater. Was stuck next to a group of obnoxious Dawg fans, very vulgar and aggressive and I was there with my 8 year old cousin. Other than that one bad experience, love the program.

8. Seton Hall - Maybe it's in my head but I always feel like something shady is going on there. Could be because my fiance is from NYC and has a Ted Moseby like aversion to Jersey.

9. Depaul - Have long felt like their administration has zero interest in investing in men's hoops. Drags the rest of the conference down. Want to see them do well but can't see it happening without new leadership.

Like others, I cheer for the whole Big East outside of conference play.

[XtoDC]

I root for everyone OOC, I definitely don't dislike anyone enough that I would root against the conference's best interest. Once conference play starts, I root for the team's that sucked and underperformed OOC to continue sucking, and the teams that went out and handled business OOC to continue to handle business in conference. I have general thoughts about the various team histories, coaches, and fan bases, but not enough that any of it affects who I root for or against in a given game. That is subject to change though once we get into the conference schedule and fan bases get more annoying and the shit talking escalates.

The Butler - Xavier rivalry is pretty interesting because they are so similar that I would guess the average college basketball fan would describe them the exact same way in a one sentence blurb. "Small school in a Midwest city that is usually unranked with a young coach that has the team ready for March and they usually do well in the tournament." The differences though have been magnified with the intensity of the games the last 5 years or so and both schools feel like they have the upper hand. Butler is the little brother in the way that the second twin who was born 9 seconds later is the little brother, but at least they banged the prom queen while the 'older' brother only got to second base with her the year before.

[stever20]

for me it's PC. respect the hell out of Cooley. if anyone can get what PC has back this year to do much, it'd be him.

[xusandy]

Well, like all of you, I root for every BEAST team in every OOC game. But with a few preferences:
1. Villanova -- Our "flagship" bball program, earning us ALL more respect, with a waaaaay classy coach.
2. Butler -- They're turning into our biggest in-league rival, and I really do want the X vs. Butler games to be contests between two very highly ranked teams. Go Bulldogs! Plus, Butler's former coaches have all been great, and then there was that night many years ago when I watched a kid named Matta hit a zillion threes and personally kill us at our place. Instant respect!
3. DePaul -- This may be a pity vote. Well OK, but one way to judge conference strength is by how well our worst team does against middling teams from other conferences. And I love underdogs, and the Blue Demons have been down for sooo long.....
4. Creighton -- a fellow high major formerly in a mid-major conference. Kindred spirits? I've always liked their fan base loyalty and coach McD. And his son as a player, wow!
5.6. Providence, Seton Hall -- Two "second tier" schools in the Old BEAST with Cincinnati ties (Gillen left X for Providence, which we can forgive since his wife was from there; and the great Cincinnati prep star Louis Orr fielded a lot of pretty decent teams at Seton Hall.) I've always respected underdogs who hang in there and pull off occasional upsets and who have great seasons every now and then. And now both those schools have coaches I admire a lot.
7. Georgetown -- A great history. JTII was a fabulous coach, and his series of "twin towers" teams showed everyone how to play when you have two gifted bigs. One of XU's biggest victories ever was when we upset Georgetown, with Motumbo and Mourning, with our own twin towers team (Derek Strong and Tyrone Hill) in the '90 NCAA tournament. I kinda felt like we really could play with the big boys after that -- for me, that game was the first glimmer of our long-term bball potential. Thanks, G'town.
8. Marquette - a great rivalry in the old MCC, shot to hell when Marquette left to join the old BEAST a year after XU's President left to become Marquette's President. Felt like backstabbing. So I've really enjoyed beating them whenever we played since then. Also, I never really liked Buzz Williams as a coach, especially how he jumped ship when the cupboard was bare. Definitely NOT very classy. Today however, I like how Woj is rebuilding the Warriors into a strong program.
9. St. John's -- I loved 'em when I was a kid and Louie Carneseca was the coach, and Mullins was really a treat to watch as a player, but in recent years they've had a series of flashy "me first" players who never lived up to expectations, and a coach (Lavin) who, IMHO, was all style, no substance. The typical NYC arrogance thing. That said, I hope Mullins succeeds as a coach, and I still want to see the Johnnies win every OOC game they play.

As for the teams I always root AGAINST, Duke, North Carolina, Indiana, and Ohio State top my list for various reasons. But that's another conversation.